Opener for glass-topped jars



D. C. RELYEA.

OPENER FOR GLASS TOPPED JARSv APPUCATION FILED JAN.28, 1920.

Patented Aug. 17, 1920.

u CL L C [L N T l W ATTORNEYS State of DEWITT C. mm OI'COSCOB, CONNECTICUT.

OPENER 1'03 GLASS-TOPPED JARS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 17, 1920.

Application filed January 28, 1920. Serial No. 354,647.-

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Dnwrr'r C. RELYEA, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Coscob in the county of Fairfield and Connecticut, have invented a new and Improved Opener for Glass-Topped J ars,'of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description. i

This invention relates to kitchen utensils, and has particular reference to manually operated means for opening glass-topped fruit jars or the like, which are usually held sealed by external atmospheric pressure.

Among the objects of the invention is to provide an implement of the nature aforestated which will serve two important conditions, first the admission of air into the container for relieving the external pressure aforestated, and secondly a device'that is the least likely to cause the cracking, chipping or breakage of either the glass top or the rim, or neck portions of the container upon which the top is ordinarily seated.

More specifically, the present improvement constitutes a refinement of the device covered by Letters Patent of the United States No. 1,279,441 issued to me on the 17th day of September, 1918, the improvement providing means to adapt the length of the flexible connection so as to fit any size jar or container.

With the foregoing and other objects in view the invention consists in the arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed, and while the invention is not restricted to the exact details of construction disclosed or suggested herein, still for the purpose of illustrating a practical embodiment thereof reference is had to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same parts in the several views, and in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of a fruit jar showing my im rovement applied thereto, in position for ifting the cover.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the device.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation with parts in section.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings they show a conventional form of glass jar 10, having a lass top 11 seated upon a neck ortion or fiange 12 of the jar, or upon a as et 13, supported by the flange. As is well own, after the jar or container is sealed causing a high degree of external atmospheric pressure, the cap is seated so firmly upon the gasket that it cannot be lifted byordinary means without first admitting air within the container for equalizing the pressures on both the inside and the outside. In order to admit the air however, it is necessary to lift the top. In order to lift the top, force must be applied practically all around it, and directly beneath the edge of it-to prevent the breaking or chipping of the glass top. In the I opening of glass jars, of the character indicated, it all too frequently happens that not only is the top chipped or broken, but the jar itself is likely to be broken resulting in the loss of the contents of the jar in addition to the loss of the jar itself. It is necessary therefore in the safe, rapid and economical opening of such jars, that the tops be lifted in such a manner that no damage can result to the jar or its contents, or injury to the operator.

In carrying out this invention in the most practical embodiment, I provide a handle in the form of a lever 14, made of suitable rigid, fiat material, and having the rounded end 15 terminating in an obtuse angular shoulder 15 adapted to engage beneath the top or just between the top and the gasket 13.

At the center of curvature of this end 15, is arranged a pivot 16 for securing a clip or clevis 17 to the lever, the heads of the pivot being slightly rounded, but otherwise as flat as possible on both sides. The clevis is free to swing around the axis of the pivot along the rounded end of the lever.

18 indicates a flexible connection or band, one end of which is anchored permanently to the clevis 17 as by passing through the looped portion thereof, and being twisted around itself with the end fastened by means of a ball of solder 19. This band 18 is long enough to pass around the bottom of the glass top of the largest fruit jar, and with an end portion of the band long enough to be threaded through a series of holes 20 formed in a row in the lever 14 practically one third of the distance from the pivot 16, toward the opposite free end of the lever. The band 18 may be made of any suitable material, preferabl of plaited or other form of multiple stran wire having therefore maximum strength for this purpose, and

constitutes in itself a seal, shutting o the air that might otherwise be admitted. In

the use of multiple strands of wire for this purpose there is no obstruction to the passage of air directly through the band, and hence the device cannot fail for this reason.

In adjusting the size of the band to the particular jar to be opened, all the operator has to do is to thread the loose end 21 through the first hole 20 adjusting the loop to a size so that it fits easily around the' top, and then while the band is thus held by one handthe free end 21 is threaded through the remaining holes 20 as indicated in the drawings. In this position the loose end of the flexible connection lies in position to be grasped and held by the hand that manipulates the longer end of the lever in applying force to the device. In view of the threading through the holes 20 little or no force is required on the part of the operator to hold the band from slipping throu h the holes 20 irrespective of the amount 0 force applied to the lever. As a matter of fact however. from the nature of the lever and the band connected to it, the amount of force required to lift the glass top is so slight as to be hardly noticeable. It will thus be seen that the band may be easily adjusted to any length to suit any size or condition of container. The free end 21 of the keeper may partake of di connection is preferably finishedi l by a ball of solder the same as indicated at 19, a very chea expedient and one which insures that the fibxible element will neither fray nor be likely to injure the operators fingers at any time.

It will be noted that the holes 20 formed through the lever 14 constitute a keeper for the connection of the flexible element 18 at any desired point of adjustment or length for adaptation of the band to fruit jars of different sizes, even though the variations in size may be very sli ht. While this erent specific deslgns, the arrangement of the holes has been found by me in practice to be exceedingly simple, cheap, highly efficient and satisfacl claim 1. In a glass-top lifter for fruitjars, the combination with a lever of flat rigid material and a flexible plaited wire pivotally attached to one end thereof and adapted to pass around the container beneath the top, said lever having a rounded end terminating in an obtuse angularshoulder, of a keeper with which said wire is adapted to cooperate adjustably for determining the effective length of the wire in accordance with the size of any fruit jar, the free end of the wire beyond the keeper lying along the longer end of the lever in position to be grasped by the hand of the operator.

2. A device of the nature set forth in claim 1, in which the keeper consists of a plurality of holes formed directly through the lever and through which the wire is adapted to be threaded, the ends of the wire being tipped with balls of metal melted thereon to secure the same and prevent fraying of the strands thereof.

DEWITT O. RELYEA. 

